All Forum Posts by: Gary L Wallman

Hi all, I’m in a bit of a predicament. I have very qualified prospective tenants but they have a Dutch German Shepard dog. Female, 54 lbs, vaccinated, potty trained and “very sweet”. I’ve only ever rented to people with small dogs in the past, so I’m not sure if this is a good idea or not. The prospective tenants themselves are lovely and have no issues qualifying, but I am seeing online that the general consensus is to never rent to people who have a German shepherd, because those dogs are prone to biting and aggression. I was wondering if this is different because it’s not a pure German shepherd, or if it’s all the same. My insurance said they don’t cover German shepherds, but said the tenant can always get renters insurance. BUT, they also said that if the dog were to injure someone, I could be sued too regardless if the tenant has insurance.

I’m not sure what to do. I would hate to lose great, qualified tenants just on the *what if* scenario of their dog injuring someone. They say it’s a sweet dog with no history of bad behavior. What has been your experience renting to people who have a restricted dog breed?

Should I rent to them? Would you? Also, does anyone have experience with mixed shephards? 

@Gary L Wallman do you think this applies to all markets? My wife and I are moving from Virginia to Palmetto FL which is beginning to develop and the new Construction is cheaper than almost everything else

Like the title mentions, I am a chronic over thinker and know that I could spend the next 2 years learning every possible approach to BRRRR, the details, the risks, etc. I am a pretty resourceful thinker but I cannot help that whenever my brain hears "5 things you MUST know before your first BRRRR deal" I can't help but read the content, research each of those topics, etc. Ultimately, I know I just need to get started and over time my goal can become to improve my strategy with every deal.

I don't want to live on the sidelines lol. 

With that being said- Any advice/thoughts on taking a less profitable deal (ie- leaving money in the deal after refinancing to get started)?  If so, how can I use my willingness to be less profitable to my advantage? 

 So a number of years ago, I obtained my license to sell health and life insurance. I work for AFLAC for a time and it was a whole lot of door knocking.  basically  prospecting. Later I worked for another company and it was a whole lot of prospecting and trying to chase down potential customers as well. All of which was 100% commission based. ( I no longer sell insurance.)

Being 100% commission is a job in my opinion. being a realtor, for some people could be a good income depending on how hard they work being a insurance sales person can be a good income depending on how hard they work. Neither job equates to owning real estate. Both jobs if you made a lot of money you could invest into real estate.

I had one gentleman tell me four years ago that he was a real estate investor because he just got his realtor license. I didn’t even take the time to correct him .

 Congratulations on the 150 doors, thats a great accomplishment.  I have no idea how to even get to 10 doors yet and that's why I am here learning the biz.  I only have one rental worth over $1mil in sunny Carlsbad CA and a $900k home in Chula Vista. 

I don't know about flipping yet but I do have experience in contracting and know how to operate a multi million dollar business.  There's contractors for all types of customers; we deal with high end customers in La Jolla and Rancho Santa Fe.  It all depends on the level of service one needs or wants. 

Again, theres a cheap contractors for cheap customers.  There is nothing wrong with being cheap, price conscious, budget friendly or the most popular term "reasonable" or  whatever you want to call it.  How much is reasonable?

We see it everyday and theres contractors for every customers.  

That does not make me wrong; just different opinions.  

Again, in my opinion, that's a fair price for a legitimate, licensed and insured company.  Not your weekend side job guy.  

Please don't try to make this between ME and YOU because I have no idea who you are, or what you do for a living.  I am here to learn flipping. 

I have experience in residential HVAC/Plumbing installations and the estimate provided is within the ballpark for a legitimate, contractor who operates a profitable business with well trained technicians.  Not your cheap side job guy who will do it for $300 a sixpack of beer.

I am sure you can find a cheap guy who will not give you any warranty for half the price just like you can for flooring, kitchen, hvac, painting and landscape.

The proposal estimate shown above is from a software company called Service Titan.  Only top notch companies use that software, all the cheap companies who don't have real shops or employees just use pen, paper or a free software. I think the lower cost option would be just fine for a basic tank.

AS homeowners or flippers, sometimes we have no idea how much things should cost and have no idea how to run a service/contracting business.  Thats why we automatically say it should only costs XXXX amount. 

I encourage you to get another quote from a reputable company and see whats their ballpark. If you really want the cheap of the cheapest like many flippers; expect to pay cash to a guy who will do it on a saturday but ZERO warranty if something goes wrong. 

est of luck in your repairs

Hey All,

A family friend of mine has instilled the fear of Tampa as a whole being a poor long term investment due to Sea Level Rise (SLR). It seems without a significant investment into preventative measures Tampa and the surrounding area will lose much of its value amongst other things. 

While I bought my first property in Riverview this time last year I’m now hesitant to even continue analyzing properties. Simply looking to get others thoughts on the matter. 

Thanks to all!

This is the most accurate statement on investing in Florida I've seen.  I have a son with autism so I live near NASA where autism rates are high and thus services for him are the best in frankly the Eastern half of the US.  I like the particular community I'm in for now for what he needs, but I will probably choose St. Augustine at some point.  I'll take an aged port in a 200-year-old masonry wine grotto over a margarita at a tiki bar.  Prices are high right now but they are stagnating while rents are continuing to rise.  

I saw your comment re the Midwest and I get where your mind is at. One thing about the Midwest that is an advantage over Florida is the weather isn't out to destroy everything you own, generally. Even "good" weather here eats everything. Construction has risen to combat that but it still exists. Frankly if you had a modern Florida built house in the Midwest it'd last forever, through tornadoes and all. You might also want to be wary of HOAs. We don't have local zoning like most states. In fact the most recent update to our building code took away a lot of local code authority. What we do have to make up for that is a robust HOA bylaws.